Just a single comment: was the American establishment so blind that this warning, issued as far back as 1948, was not taken into account, or forgotten? Can the inner logic of capitalism be so strong that the only superpower can forget these almost obvious lessons from the past? ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 11:58:26 -0400 Send reply to: "Andrew A. Beveridge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Andrew A. Beveridge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: The Prescience of E. B. White To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Someone sent this to me: A friend recently gave me a copy of the The Essays of E.B. White which contains a remarkable piece entitled "Here is New York" written in 1948 when White was a young man. The 20 page essay, a masterpiece of the literary form, contains a few extraordinary paragraphs which foreshadowed last week's terrible events, though White was likely contemplating nuclear attacks. "The subtlest change in New York is something people don't speak much about but that is in everyone's mind. The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate the millions. The intimation of mortality is part of New York now: in the sound of jets overhead, the black headlines of the latest edition. All dwellers in cities must live with the stubborn fact of annihilation; in New York the fact is somewhat more concentrated because of the concentration of the city itself, and because, of all targets, New York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever preverted dreamer who might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm." E.B. White, 1948 Andy Beveridge ------- End of forwarded message ------- Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
